


Withered

by AceArchangel



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Angst with a sad ending, F/M, Hanahaki Disease, Heavy Angst, Leo is done with everyone's Allo nonsense, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:41:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25136350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceArchangel/pseuds/AceArchangel
Summary: Jason knows when he develops his Hanahaki that he can't tell Reyna, she'd just blame herself. Reyna keeps thinking that something between her and Jason is impossible. When he disappears that kinda just nails the lid on the coffin.(I'm bad at summaries tl;dr jason and reyna are in love with each other and each develop hanahaki and this is a retelling through that lense from pre-hoo through the tyrants tomb)
Relationships: Jason Grace & Leo Valdez, Jason Grace & Original Male Character(s), Jason Grace & Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Jason Grace/Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	1. Sunflowers Still Grow at Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from Sunflowers by Rex Orange County

Camellias; Admiration, Perfection, Good Luck

Jason was around 14 going on 15. Reyna was about to head off on her first quest as the lead centurion. She was standing across from him with her hair in the french braid that he had done for her. Her backpack was slung over her shoulder and she was trying to say goodbye.

“Do you have your sword?” Jason asks

Reyna rolled her eyes, “Yes Jason. I have my sword.” 

“What about ambrosia and nectar? And a change of clothes? And denarii? And-” Jason gets cut off by one of the praetors, Cadeyrn, walking up behind him. 

“Calm down Sparks. I’m sure she’ll be okay.” He let out a barking laugh and turned to Reyna, “Anything you need from me before you’re on your way?” 

“No sir.” 

“Alright then say your goodbyes and get going, you don’t want to miss your bus.” He gave her a little smile.

Jason promptly tackled Reyna into a hug. “Please be safe.” He whispers into her ear.

“Fine. But when I get back you owe me a hot cocoa.” She agrees, smirking.

“Deal.” He says as he pulls away.

They look at each other both clearly trying to hold back tears. “Well….. Bye.” Reyna gave a little wave then ran over to her questmates. 

As soon as she was out of ear range, he started venting his worries at the legacy of Summanus, “What if they miss the bus? What if the bus explodes? What if she dies? I don’t know what I’ll do if she dies Cade-”

“Whoa whoa whoa deep breath. Reyna isn’t going to die. You’ve sparred with her before right?”

“Yeah….” Jason said slowly

“And? How many people do you know who could beat her?”  
  


“Not many…”

“And how many quests have you led?” Jason’s older brother-like figure continued to prompt.

“Three...”

“And did you die on any of them?”

“No…”

“We got her off to the bus on time and she has nectar and ambrosia and I highly doubt that the bus will explode. Besides, wasn’t Reyna with you when you went to Charleston?”

“Yeah I guess you’re right...” Jason said quietly. The two of them walked in silence for a little bit before Jason burst again, “But what if-” 

“Hey, stop with the what ifs, she’ll be fine. Come on let’s go spar and get some lunch that’ll get your mind off of it okay?” Cadeyrn put his arm around Jason’s shoulder messing his hair up. 

Jason nodded sheepishly. 

Through the entire rest of the day he couldn’t seem to be able to stop thinking about Reyna. Throughout lunch with Cadeyrn’s boyfriend Macbeth, who was the other centurion of the fifth, sparring, and goofing off with Gwen and Dakota as Macbeth tried to get them to clean for nightly inspection, Jason could not get Reyna out of his head.

He laid in his bunk that night and stared at the ceiling. _Why are you so worried about this? Reyna can take care of herself, so why are you so worried?_

He stared at the ceiling for a while longer. As he started to drift off, he realized.

_Oh._

_I’m in love with her._

He woke up to camellia petals scattered across his bunk.

* * *

Sunflowers; adoration, loyalty, longevity

Jason had been coughing up sunflowers since he was made praetor about 3 months ago, and he had been coughing up flowers for almost a year now. It had only gotten worse since Reyna came back. The only ones who had known about his case were Cadeyrn, Macbeth, and Dee. But ever since the battle at Mount Othrys where they all had died, it was just him. He knew he didn’t have long left. He needed to tell Reyna tonight. 

They were lying on the roof of his apartment, what used to be Cade’s apartment, and Jason and Reyna were looking up at the stars.They had been chit chatting and venting about praetor stuff before falling into a comfortable silence finding solace in each other’s quiet company. Somehow they had ended up with Reyna’s head in his lap as he played with her hair. Jason eventually got the courage to speak up, “Hey Rey?” 

“Hmm?” She hummed.

Jason opened his mouth to tell her but hesitated before speaking and eventually just said, “You know I love you right? No matter what?”

“Of course I do Jay, what’s got you all sappy?”

He laughed nervously, “Oh it’s nothing. Just thinking.”

Reyna smiled softly up at him before sitting up and holding his face with one hand. “It’s okay to miss them. Their deaths weren’t your fault.”

“I know Rey.” He said, grabbing her hand and gently kissing the back of it before letting go. “I just wish they were here to give me advice sometimes.”

“I know Jay. But at least we have each other.” She laid back down on his lap. “And I’m always here if you need to talk okay?”

“Okay.” Jason smiled.

_I wish that I could tell you._

The next morning he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scream at me on tumblr [here](https://jasongr-ace.tumblr.com/) or [here](https://archangelofthestars.tumblr.com/)?
> 
> Jason's dads (Macbeth and Cadeyrn) as well as some other pre-hoo Roman OCs who will appear belong to princessponies81 (their [ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princessponies/pseuds/Princessponies) and the [askblog](https://deadangelos.tumblr.com) where the characters can be found as well as the [event](https://deadangelos.tumblr.com/tagged/grace-event) with their first appearance). 
> 
> My specific hanahaki system works that as the relationship grows and changes so will the flowers. So each chapter will have at least one flower meaning for y'all to follow along with the symbolism I'm laying down.
> 
> I already have the next chapter written for this and im working on the one after that, and i have 9 chapters planned but i might need to add more... But the entire thing is plotted out and i already have the ending written.


	2. Finding Love In All The Wrong Scenes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is Reyna's Prologue of Things leading up to Hoo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title is from Daisy by Zedd

Daisies; Innocence, Loyal Love, Purity, I’ll Never Tell

Reyna started coughing up daisy petals just after she had turned 14. She didn’t even really notice them at first. It wasn’t until a month or so later when they were at the New Rome Winter Formal and Jason told her about his crush on Mike Kahale while they were slow dancing, and she had a coughing fit after the song ended that she really noticed the petals.

She knew what the petals meant. She was in love with her best friend. But he didn’t love her. 

Shortly after the dance, she, Dakota, and Jason made their way to Charleston on a quest to retrieve some imperial gold weapons to help with the shortage the legion was dealing with as demigods were defecting and taking their weapons with them. 

While they were there, they ran into Venus, who only wanted to talk to Reyna.  _ She knows. She must. _ After receiving the very cryptic message of, ‘ _ You will not find love where you wish or where you hope. No demigod shall heal your heart. _ ’ from her, Reyna thanked Venus As soon as she had left the goddess’s presence, she broke down. 

This just confirmed her suspicions. Jason would never love her in the way she wanted him to. She was destined to be alone forever. As she sat there sobbing and coughing up daisies, she took out the twin dutch braids that Jason had given her before they left. When she was done, she stood back up and swore to start distancing herself from Jason. If she was gonna have her heart broken by him, it wasn’t going to be anytime soon. 

She wore her hair down for most of the rest of the quest. She couldn’t stand the thought of him touching her hair, of allowing herself to be vulnerable with him, after what Venus said. 

She saw Jason’s face when she flinched away once when they were almost back to camp, so Reyna let him braid it. But a single braid this time.  _ Like me.  _ She thought sadly.

When she got back to camp she was surprised to find a promotion to centurion awaiting her as her predecessor had defected. She took it gladly and took the first quest that became available.  _ I need to protect myself. And him. This is the best way to do so. _ After they said their, admittedly very awkward, goodbyes, Reyna coughed up a couple of daisies.  _ He’s dating Mike, you don’t even know if he likes girls.  _ Reyna chastised herself.

When she returned to camp, she was shocked to hear that Jason and Mike had broken up. The rumor mill seemed to believe it was because Jason had feelings for someone else, but nobody knew who. When she heard, she just smiled sadly.  _ There’s no possible way it’s me. _

* * *

Primroses; I Can’t Live Without You

Since the battle three months ago, Reyna had given up trying to distance herself from Jay. Life was too short to not spend it with the people she loved. She needed him in her life. The flowers in her lungs seemed to agree as there were now buds of primroses mixed into her occasional daisy coughing fit.

She and Jay were lying on the roof of his apartment looking at the stars. His hand in her hair as they sit in a companionable silence. Jay said something sappy and she reassured him. But when he kissed her hand she’d be lying if she said her heart didn’t flutter a little.

As she lay with her head in his lap and his fingers running through her hair, she let her mind wander. She worried about Jay. He had talked to her about running away and starting a new life away from the pressures of New Rome. She had talked him out of it several times. Deserters were harshly punished when caught and she didn’t need any other serious crimes under her belt. 

She realized she was dozing off and poked Jason. “Come on you, we can’t sleep on the roof.” She smiled a little at the silly thought. They headed back down through a window into Jason’s attic which had lots of mementos scattered around from past praetors. They walked downstairs and Jason insisted on walking Reyna to her door despite it being right next door. She laughs and lets him. “I’ll see you in the morning,” she said as she gave him a big hug before heading inside, “I expect you to braid my hair before morning muster.” She winked at him laughing. 

“Yes ma’am.” he gave a mock salute and laughed as she shut the door.

That was the last thing she heard him say, because the next morning he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scream at me on tumblr [here](https://jasongr-ace.tumblr.com/) or [here](https://archangelofthestars.tumblr.com/)? (or y'know in the comments is good too ;))
> 
> I am trying to keep this updated regularly but i did not write as much as i wanted this week. So we'll see when the next chapter goes up? Either 1 week or 2.


	3. I Saw a Shooting Star and Thought of You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Literally just The Lost Hero and Son of Neptune but Jason's POV and he's coughing up flowers. Also aro ace Leo rights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where there are ellipses it essentially plays out just like the book. I just didn't think you guys wanted to reread the entirety of the lost hero again.
> 
> Chapter title is from All of the Stars by Ed Sheeran.
> 
> Me: this chapter might take a week or two  
> Also me: updates 3 days later
> 
> I am chaos

Zinnias (magenta); Lasting Affection

Jason doesn’t know how he got to the Grand Canyon, he doesn’t really know where the scary blonde lady and the large man with the rainbow tattoo are taking him, but he’s just kinda going with it seeing as they seemed as if they knew what they were doing.

After they crashed the chariot and while Annabeth was quizzing him on his tattoo, Jason started to feel the need to cough. He cleared his throat a little to try and get rid of the tickle but it stayed there rather annoyingly.

The tickle on his throat persisted through Annabeth deciding he needed to meet Chiron as Piper went off with Annabeth and Leo spent time with his newfound siblings. Drew is walking him to the Big House and something feels off about how she’s talking to him. It isn’t until she says something about how he’s hopefully not dating Piper, which he isn’t, despite what she remembers, that he gets what she’s doing.  _ Oh she’s flirting with me. _

“I, uh, I appreciate the sentiment,” He smiled despite feeling extremely awkward, “But I’m really not interested.”

“Oh come on sweetie, a man like you can do so much better.” She smiled at him but she kept glancing above his head. 

“You’re looking for a sign?” He guessed.

“No, no, no..” Drew trailed off while still staring over his head.

“Mhmm.” Jason rolled his eyes unconvinced. He waved his hand over his head to get her attention, “Wouldn’t we still be cousins anyway? Wouldn’t it be weird?”

Drew laughed, “Oh you might be handsome but you sure are a few eyeshadows short of a palette, huh? It only matters if you have the same parent, Everyone else is fair game.” She winked at him as she said this. “So who’s your godly parent? Your mom or your dad?”

“Uhhhhh,” Jason didn’t know how to respond. He was saved by the sound of hooves and the voice of man. “Stop harassing our newest camper Drew, don’t you have a cabin to run?”

“Yes Chiron.” She said sheepishly.

“Alright then you better get going, I have a feeling your cabin is going to be extra excited for the campfire tonight.” Drew rolls her eyes, then winks at Jason before walking away towards the cabins.

Jason turns to face the centaur slowly. He looks up at Chiron nervously. Chiron looks Jason up and down, “You…..” his eyes widened, “You should be dead.” 

As soon as the words were out of Chiron’s mouth, Jason lost his ability to hold it back and started coughing up the petals that had been bugging him since Annabeth started questioning him. He finally stopped and opened his eyes to see flower petals in the crook of his elbow and on the ground near him. 

Chiron sighed, “Magenta zinnias. Come inside.” 

Jason sat and sipped the lemonade that was offered him as chiron questioned him with things like, where are you from, do you know what your tattoo ad shirt mean, do you know who i am, where you’re from, do you believe in the gods, have you been claimed.Jason answered these without thinking too hard and the conversation flowed easily. At one point there was a shift of some kind but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was. After Chiron paused and Seymour snarled, Jason realized they had been speaking another language. As Chiron explained that they were speaking Latin, Jason felt the flowers begin to surface in his throat again. He ignored it as his and Chiron’s conversation continued until a goddess appeared in a mist from the leopard’s mouth...

* * *

...Jason woke up the next morning to his cot covered in petals.  _ Zinnias _ . He remembered.  _ Is coughing up flowers normal for people around here? Chiron didn’t seem put off by it.  _ Jason sat up and looked around the cabin. It was cold and marble, and, between the painted statue of Zeus in the middle of the room and the fact that there were no beds besides the cot that was brought in for Jason, it had more of the energy of a temple than a cabin made for kids to live in. He got up and cleaned the flower petals up before changing into the fresh clothes laid out for him. As he was getting ready to leave the cabin, he noticed someone had made a sleeping nook out of one of the alcoves…

* * *

....Jason, Leo, and Piper were on the back of Happy the dragon flying west. Piper was asleep but Jason and Leo weren’t. Leo because he was flying Festus, and Jason because he was stargazing. Jason looked up at the sky and, with a city in the distance, the light pollution blurred the edges of the sky making some of the stars harder to see. But to Jason it felt familiar. He was hit with a wave of a feeling he couldn’t quite name as he looked at the familiar feeling sight and he had a coughing fit, hacking zinnia petals off the side of the boat.

Leo heard his coughing and looked back to Jason coughing flowers off the side of Festus. “You got it bad, huh?” He asked.

“Got what?” Jason asked.   
  
If Leo hadn’t been flying the dragon, he’d have given Jason an incredulous look. “Feelings? You know that people don’t just cough petals right? Like I know you got amnesia or something but I figured you’d still know what Hanahaki is.”

“Hanahaki?” Jason asked, more confused than ever.

Leo sighed and grumbled a little to himself, it sounded something like, “Stupid allo people,” He raised his voice and started to explain, “Essentially you fall in love with someone and if they don’t love you back or you don’t  _ think _ they love you back, then you ough up flowers till you cant breathe and die.”

“Oh.” Jason was quiet for a moment. “So I’m gonna die then?”

“No dude, not if you actually talk to her. Just talk to Pipes, I know she likes you too.” Leo laughed a little.

“Oh uh okay.” Jason looks up at the stars again and dozes off not really thinking about anything but just embracing the knowledge of what he was feeling.  _ Love… _

* * *

… They returned to camp and as Leo got to work on the Argo II, Jason worked on his relationship with Piper. They got closer and Jason told her about his petals. She said she had feelings for him as well, and all seemed well as they started actually dating, but one day Jason caught a whiff of chocolate, cinnamon, and peppermint, a weird mixture but not uncommon during holiday/winter months, and he felt it in his throat again. He made it to the bathrooms before he broke into another coughing fit of petals, a new flower this time he notes. As he clogged the toilets, thoughts swirled in his head,  _ I don’t understand. I thought these were for Piper. _

Piper came by Cabin 1 that night. She found Jason on the roof stargazing. Jason smiled when he saw her. “Hey babe.”   
  
“Don’t ‘Hey babe’ me,” she said, “I heard what happened with the jonquil flowers by the dining pavilion. Do you not like me? Cause like that is totally cool if you don’t, but why did you have to lead me on like this?”

“Pipes, pipes, I swear I like you, I just-, I honestly don’t know who the petals are for. I don’t remember liking, or even loving!, anyone else, at least recently,” from the look on her face he could tell that he wasn’t being very reassuring, he stood up and walked towards her, “I’ve been coughing these up since we got to camp,”  _ Still not helping _ , “But I swear there’s no one besides you! I like you, like a lot, okay?” He grabbed her hands, hoping to stop her pacing on the dark roof, “Okay?”

She let out a breath that she seemed to have been holding and looked up at him. “Okay.’

“I’m not going anywhere without you alright? Well, and Leo.”   
  
Piper laughed at that. “Alright alright, just let me know if you do remember, okay?”   
  
“Promise.” He smiled.

They sat down on the roof together and he pointed out constellations and told her some of the Roman stories that he remembered.

Eventually, they laid there in silence just looking at the stars. Jason felt a tickle in his throat again and thought sadly,  _ whoever you are, Bobby, Dakota, Gwen, Reyna, I’m sorry, but I need to move on. I don’t even remember you. _

Jonquil; Love Me, Desire, Affection Returned, Sympathy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scream at me on tumblr [here](https://jasongr-ace.tumblr.com/) or [here](https://archangelofthestars.tumblr.com/)? (or y'know in the comments is good too ;))
> 
> OR i have a new [jeyna specific blog](https://jasongr-ace.tumblr.com/) *wiggles eyebrows*
> 
> ,,,,,i upped my chapter count.


End file.
